The world of comic conventions was thrust into the gun debate this week when it was discovered that DS Arms, an Illinois-based manufacturer and distributor of firearms was going to be exhibiting at Wizard World Chicago, which started today.

The controversy involved not just the choice of this particular exhibitor, but also how Wizard World handled the situation and inquiries from the media. The news was first reported by Tom Spergeon at The Comics Reporter, who spoke with Wizard PR person Jerry Milani. Milani told The Comics Reporter that the booth space had been booked by a third party and when Wizard found out that DS Arms was a real arms manufacturer, they uninvited them.

However, on Monday Rich Johnston of Bleeding Cool News spoke with Milani, and was told that DS Arms would in fact be exhibiting. Milani said DS Arms would not be offering real weapons. (The implication was that they would be offering replica’s and non-working weapons.) But could let people know real weapons could be purchased via their website. Johnson also took note of a comment on the DS Arms Facebook page noting their participation at Wizard World. A commentor asked if they would also be attending Dragon Con in Atlanta, and DS Arms replied that they would be attending.

There has been lots of great reporting of this issue, but interestingly, there seems to have been little reaction from the guests and creators that attend the cons, and arguably are the primary draw for many attendees. So today we sent tweets to a number of creators asking how they felt about a real gun dealer exhibiting at Wizard World Chicago and at Dragon Con.

Many did not reply. However those that did were clearly against the idea.

But it turns out that wasn’t quite the complete story. Hannah Lodge at The Comics Beat followed up with Dragon Con Director of Media Relations Dan Carroll who said that DS Arms would in fact be participating at the con. Not as a vendor, but rather as a participant in their exhibit of historical weapons, called The Armory, which the con has had since 2009.

And then about an hour before the doors opened to Wizard World Chicago, Chase Magnett updated his story to say that writer Steve Horton had verified that DS Arms would not be exhibiting at the show, though it remains unclear who made that decision.

This story opens the door to many issues at cons, relating to safety of guests and attendees, cosplay weapons policies, and policies of what vendors can sell. It also raises questions regarding type of weapon offered (IE should bladed weapons be offered if guns aren’t?)

2 COMMENTS

The takeaway here is “never meet your heroes.” The fact that so many brilliant comic creators are clueless, closed-minded, hard-left ideologues willing to bully strangers into caving to their demands, to the applause of a news media just as clueless, closed minded, and hard-left, is maddening. But, I suppose, to be expected.

[…] month DS Arms, a manufacturer of real firearms as well as replica firearms was not allowed to set up in their booth…. DS Arms was also the sponsor of “The Armory” at last weekend’s Dragon Con, which […]